Finally some true Fall weather with some much needed rain and colder temps – ideal to bring more Atlantics in to the Au Sable! Currently there are decent numbers in the lower river and the size of them is up this year. Here our guide Eric Swies with a beautiful pre spawning Atlantic Salmon!
A few fish have started to spawn but most have not yet. With the current weather look for steelhead to start showing up in decent numbers. A good place to look for them will be the dark water behind the Atlantic redds. Currently most of the Atlantics are in the faster gravel runs and off on the edges. They love holding in logs and often not in real deep water. Here is couple beauties caught last week by Andy!
The bite can be a little fickle some days. One days they seem so easy and then others seems like there is no bite. Stripping streamers has been productive some days along with less action and swinging the streamers. A lot of our steelhead Intruders are most productive and they like them bright and flashy in either silver or copper. Next up is goby/sculpin patterns and top colors are rusty, olive and black. Some of my favorite patterns are also Sparkle Minnow and Mud Puppet. If that stuff is not working it’s time to go small and deep. Nymphing rig with our switch rods is ideal. Long light leaders and small amounts of lead. Buggers, egg patterns, green caddis, hex nymphs, small steelhead jigs and beads all work at times.